Two Bills Drive

‘In terms of progress, the last half of the season, this team has played a lot better football. We didn’t play well in San Francisco, but other than that game, each game since the middle of the year we’ve been competitive, and it’s come down to the end, and we’ve had chances to win. We haven’t won as many as we should have, and we’re disappointed in that, but there’s been progress. ‘

‘It’s apparent that the high cost of the final year of Johnson’s contract will make his return questionable. Very questionable.’

‘The selection was the sixth straight for Brown, an honor only three other Bills have achieved.’

‘Moulds said Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made contact with him last offseason about Moulds’ potential interest in giving the NBA a shot.’

‘"This is a place where we’ve made our home, my daughter was born here, we have another one that’s going to be born in February here," Van Pelt said. "We have a house here, we love it here, if possible we’d love to stay here."’

‘There have been some years when it seemed like Brown made the Pro Bowl purely on reputation, but this was not one of them. This may be the 305-pounder’s best season.’

‘With his sixth season drawing to a close, however, Moulds, 28, said he yearns to play basketball professionally, the sport he loves the most.’

‘Despite posting double-digit victories in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1984 and 1985, the Dolphins actually lost ground in the annual beauty contest that is the Pro Bowl.’

‘Linebacker Zach Thomas was limited in practice and had a Magnetic Resonance Imaging exam done afterward Wednesday but was listed as probable for Sunday’s game against Buffalo.’

‘The Dolphins’ two Pro Bowl selections are considerably down from their total of seven a year ago.’

‘Smith, who is still the starter according to coach Dave Wannstedt, has 810 yards rushing and five touchdowns through 15 games. In 15 games last year, Smith rushed for 1,139 yards and 14 touchdowns.’

‘In addition to earning a Pro Bowl berth Wednesday, Thomas was named the AFC’s Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. Thomas had 18 tackles last week against Atlanta, including two goal-line stops and a career-high two sacks.’

‘”Back early in the season, a division game like this would have been huge,” Bills defensive end Phil Hansen said Wednesday. “We don’t have any hopes for the playoffs. At this point of the season, we want to finish strong, finish well for next season.”‘

‘"He can say he’s the greatest fullback to ever catch the ball," Brown said. "I don’t have any stats other than my penalties, and those are down this season. I can just say I’ve got six Pro Bowls."’

‘”We definitely want Alex to be here and he’s expressed to us that he wants to be here,” Donahoe said. “We hope that he’s found a permanent home here in Buffalo. And we’re going to do whatever we can to try to keep him here.”‘